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{bal-uh-ly'-kuh}
The balalaika, a popular Russian instrument of the guitar
family, originated in the 17th century. It has a triangular
body with a flat back and a slightly arched belly, a long
fretted neck, and three rib-fastened gut (or now sometimes
metal) strings. V.V.Andreyev transformed the balalaika and
the dombra, the immediate ancestor of the balalaika, from
folk to popular instruments late in the 19th century, creating
six sizes of balalaika, from piccolo to contrabass, which
he used to form the basis of an all-Russian orchestra. Such
orchestras, playing arrangements usually scored in the style
of Nikolai RIMSKY-KORSAKOV, have toured Europe and America.
Typically the instruments are played by plucking the strings
with the fingers.
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